SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, SC, UNITED STATES
08.20.2019
Story by Senior Airman Kathryn Reaves
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
The 20th Civil Engineer Squadron fire and emergency services flight earned reaccreditation following a Commission on Fire Accreditation International hearing, Aug. 7-9.
Michael Davis, 20th CES fire inspector and accreditation manager, and Hagenbuch led the initiative with the department’s primary goal of reducing property and life loss as well as promoting employee safety.
The accreditation is the second the flight has earned and is the culmination of a five year self-assessment of 86 core competencies and 252 performance indicators in addition to a peer assessment.
According to a release from the department, “The peer assessors conducted an out brief and highlighted the training program led by Tech. Sgt. Larry Diaz, fire prevention program led by Master Sgt. David Hagenbuch and logistic program led by Mr. Gregory Farley. (They) expressed that the training program is the best they have ever seen and are looking at taking lessons learned back to their own departments.”
The Center for Public Safety Excellence website lists additional benefits of working for, achieving and maintaining accreditation including establishing a culture of continuous improvement, communicating leadership philosophies and providing tangible data.
“The agency’s achievement of Accredited Agency status demonstrates the commitment of the agency to provide the highest quality of service to our community,” said Davis. “This internal process allows us to remain honest with ourselves on what we need to do in order to be the best department possible.”
The department also used the process to locate areas for improvement and create a plan for the future as the team begins another five-year reaccreditation process.
